The design of a graphics processing unit (GPU) chip includes many different tradeoffs. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a prior art GPU chip 100. A GPU is typically implemented as a sequence of pipelined stages, where each stage is dedicated to performing a particular graphics processing operation. Some stages, such as stage n, can be implemented by two or more individual elements that process graphics data in parallel. Thus, in some cases the processing operation performed by a stage may be divided up and performed in parallel. For example, stage n may be a pixel shader stage configured to balance a processing load for shading groups of pixels across an integer number, m, of shader pipelines (not shown) within stage n.
The performance (e.g., speed and/or processing quality) of stage n can be improved by increasing the number of elements that process graphics data in parallel. However, increasing the number of parallel processing elements in stage n has the drawback that the chip area devoted to stage n increases. This is illustrated in FIG. 1 by the larger size of stage n compared with other stages. A larger chip size, in turn, increases the cost to produce GPU chip 100.
The production cost of GPU chip 100 also depends upon the production volume. In particular, there are economies of scale associated with the design, manufacture, and marketing of GPU chips. As a result, the cost of a GPU chip also increases if the production volume decreases below some minimum level.
It is difficult for GPU manufacturers to design a chip that achieves a satisfactory tradeoff of cost and performance for a broad cross-section of consumers. The GPU market is highly segmented in terms of the tastes and preferences of consumers. A small portion of the market is willing to pay a significant premium for extremely high performance. However, a large portion of the market is cost sensitive and does not require the highest level of performance.
Conventionally, GPU manufacturers have difficulty simultaneously serving the different market segments. A GPU chip designed only for the market segment demanding the highest performance would be too expensive for price-sensitive consumers and may also have a production run that has too small a volume to take full advantage of economies of scale. Conversely, a GPU chip designed for price-sensitive consumers will not have the performance desired by high-end consumers.
Therefore, what is desired in an improved apparatus, system, and method for designing GPU chips to service different market segments.